Nuts are available year round, but they are especially popular during the holiday season. In addition to the bowls of peanuts to munch on at parties, there will be brownies and cookies with walnuts, pecan pies, almonds slivered over green beans, and more.

While you’re chowing down on these nut-containing goodies, you’re consuming a wide range of nutrients because nuts, it turns out, are what are known as nutrient dense foods. They contain abundant antioxidants, including vitamin E, folic acid, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, and several B vitamins, as well as naturally occurring plant compounds known as phytochemicals.

In fact, one of the hottest areas of current medical research is also one of the nuttiest, literally. Although it may sound a bit odd, evidence is mounting that eating nuts regularly could have a host of powerful health benefits ranging from cancer prevention and weight control to protecting brain cells and boosting cardiovascular health.

Walnuts Wow Researchers

At last year's 100th annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, Marshall University School of Medicine cancer researcher Elaine Hardman, Ph.D., offered this advice to her colleagues: eat more walnuts. She presented a study that strongly suggested eating about two ounces of walnuts a day could reduce the risk of breast cancer.

Dr. Hardman pointed out that walnuts may fight breast tumors because the nuts are loaded with so-called "good" fats known as essential omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, and phytochemicals which could have anti-cancer effects.

In addition, scientists from the University of California-Davis recently reported on research that suggests the nuts could help keep prostate cancer at bay, too. "Walnuts should be part of a prostate-healthy diet," stated Paul Davis, Ph.D., who headed the study. More good news about walnuts: research conducted by scientists at Barcelona's Hospital Clinico and published in the journal Circulation concluded that eating walnuts can reduce damage to arteries and keep them flexible. In addition, a study by Japanese researchers published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry found that phytochemicals in walnuts may prevent liver damage induced by toxic chemicals, including the cleaning solvent carbon tetrachloride.

Pecans and Pistachios

Pecans are the most antioxidant-rich tree nut known and the U.S. Department of Agriculture ranks them among the top 15 foods with the highest antioxidant capacity. Because antioxidants have been shown in a host of studies to help prevent damage to cells, that could explain why researchers are finding tantalizing evidence that eating pecans regularly could help prevent serious diseases including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, cardiovascular disease, and even cancer.

For example, a study by scientists at the Center for Cellular Neurobiology at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell published in the journal Current Topics in Nutraceutical Research suggests pecans might delay the progression of diseases involving motor neuron degeneration including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease).

According to research headed by Ladia M. Hernandez, PhD, a senior research dietitian in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, pistachios have health protective benefits. Her research team concluded eating a handful of pistachios daily may protect you from lung cancer. Pistachios have also been shown in earlier studies to have a cholesterol-lowering effect and are loaded with immune system boosting antioxidants, too.

More Nut News to Take to Heart

Scientists at Loma Linda University have found evidence that nuts are heart healthy and may dramatically improve blood cholesterol levels, without drugs. In a study of nearly 600 people, eating just 2.4 ounces of nuts daily resulted in a lowering of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), known as the "bad" cholesterol. High triglyceride levels (which are linked to heart disease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease) dropped by 10.2 percent, too.

Metabolic syndrome is a condition marked by being overweight, having high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and high blood glucose levels. About one in five overweight people have this syndrome which places them at high risk for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and early death.

However research published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that simply adding a daily serving of mixed nuts to the traditional Mediterranean diet resulted in a dramatic decrease in the rate of metabolic syndrome. A Mediterranean diet includes whole grain cereals, vegetables, fruits, olive oil, a moderate intake of fish and alcohol, and a low intake of dairy, meats, and sweets.

What’s more, research shows that eating a nut-supplemented Mediterranean diet helps to significantly reduce abdominal girth, high triglycerides, and high blood pressure.

How to Have Your Nuts (And Your Waistline, Too)

Has all this good news inspired you to eat a bowlful of nuts a day? That could be a diet-busting mistake. Yes, nuts are healthy and, eaten in moderation, can promote weight loss. However, eating them by the handful can add up to far too many calories and weight gain.

"Nuts are satiating, add crunch and flavor, and have good fiber, all factors that can help you control your weight. In fact, in controlled studies matched for calories where one snack consisted of nuts and the other was another type of healthy snack, eating nuts resulted in more weight loss," nutrition expert Julie Schwartz, a registered dietitian at NutriWell Coaching in Atlanta, tells Synergy. "However, nuts are very high in calories. The key is to stick to only one or two small servings of nuts a day, depending on the calories you need to manage your weight."

Schwartz offers these tips to keep your nut munching under control:

• Count out an ounce or two of nuts and put them in snack size baggies instead of mindlessly eating from a bowl or jar.
• Buy nuts in the shells. It takes more time to shell and eat them and the shells serve as a reminder of how many you’ve consumed, too.
• Read labels when you buy nuts in cans or jars. They can be loaded with salt, sugar, and calorie-adding oils. The smart choice: buy nuts that have only nuts listed as the ingredients.
• Eat nuts slowly; savor and enjoy them!

Sherry Baker is a writer from Atlanta, Georgia. She last wrote What Are You Cooking For Thanksgiving? Make This Your Healthiest Turkey Day Ever! Sherry can be reached at featuredstories@adamcorp.com